Throughout Chapter 1 of Keeping the Republic, Barbour and Wright discuss the ideologies of three influential members of Politics: James Madison, John Locke, and Thomas Hobbes. Beginning with Madison, he believed strongly in having a republic. As the text describes it, a republic differs from a traditional sense of a democracy, as representation is required. (p.16-17) Madison believed that in a “True Democracy”, everyone would only be acting with their own self-interest in mind. People would essentially vote for or against certain issues in order to benefit or prevent being hindered by them. (p.17). As mentioned in a class discussion, Madison was a Federalist, so he believed in a stronger national government, which may have also been due to
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Locke believed in the Social Contract Theory, which stated that if people choose to have government then they are entering a contract that allows legitimate authority to be in power. However, in doing so, the people will lose a few rights. The people can also revolt and overthrow that government if said government failed to protect the rights of their citizens. (p. 15) It is also important to note that Locke was mainly interested in protecting private property and did not particularly care about voter turnout, unlike Loeb or Hobbes. (p.15 and class discussion) Having lived very closely to the Enlightenment, we see some of the ideals of the time, namely logic and reason, indented onto Locke’s theory. Locke believed that reason was the basis of government, which was the previous ideals of Divine Right, the thought that god chose individuals in power. This was a classic example of enlightenment ideology, which was mostly based off of logical explanations rather than religious. (p. 15). While it does not appear that Locke himself was affiliated with a political party, his theory appears to have later supported the Whig Party after his death. (Moseley,
Locke believed in the Social Contract Theory, which stated that if people choose to have government then they are entering a contract that allows legitimate authority to be in power. However, in doing so, the people will lose a few rights. The people can also revolt and overthrow that government if said government failed to protect the rights of their citizens. (p. 15) It is also important to note that Locke was mainly interested in protecting private property and did not particularly care about voter turnout, unlike Loeb or Hobbes. (p.15 and class discussion) Having lived very closely to the Enlightenment, we see some of the ideals of the time, namely logic and reason, indented onto Locke’s theory. Locke believed that reason was the basis of government, which was the previous ideals of Divine Right, the thought that god chose individuals in power. This was a classic example of enlightenment ideology, which was mostly based off of logical explanations rather than religious. (p. 15). While it does not appear that Locke himself was affiliated with a political party, his theory appears to have later supported the Whig Party after his death. (Moseley,